


Corvo Doesn't Fade

by VoidLeviathan



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bittersweet, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Its not explained how he dies but hes dead, One Shot, The Void, This whole fic was finished at 3 am after half a month, Whales, no ships, what tf else do I tag this with uhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 12:11:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18894388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VoidLeviathan/pseuds/VoidLeviathan
Summary: Corvo died at the hands of Delilah Copperspoon on the day she raided the anniversary of Jessamine’s death.





	Corvo Doesn't Fade

Corvo died at the hands of Delilah Copperspoon on the day she raided the anniversary of Jessamine’s death. Emily escaped, fear ridden and heart broken as she scrambled to the Dreadful Whale, collapsing with a sob while Megan did all she could to comfort the former Empress.

As Emily mourned, Corvo awoke amidst the Void, silent and endless as it always was. He was shaken, confused, and lost. When the Outsider came to him with what could have been considered a mournful look, it wasn't hard for Corvo to put together just what was going on. He was dead and he had failed at keeping Emily safe in the process. 

Corvo wanted to yell, to scream, but opted for staying silent as he paced the spot he’d woken up on like a trapped animal making a plan to break free. He stayed like this for several days. Days until Emily appeared before The Outsider within the Void. Corvo wasn’t pleased by this outcome, but another part of him knew this is what Emily needed if she were ever to take back what she lost. He was hopeful she would make the right choices and proud of her when she did.

Aside from the few visits that took place between Emily and The Outsider, not much happened within the Void itself. The longer Corvo spent trapped there, the faster the sinking feeling that the Outsider really was quite lonely had settled in. They didn't really talk to each other, Corvo and the Outsider, and when they did it was only ever few worded conversations. Corvo took to following him about the Void and the Outsider never quite bothered to tell him to stop. He found it intriguing that Corvo looked and acted sane while other spirits slowly started to lose themselves and simply faded.

Corvo learned a few things in the time spent studying the deity in his natural surroundings. One of these things was that the Outsider never looked happy. Another was that the more he looked at him, the more Corvo realized that this was an actual child. A child who knew too much for looking as young as he did in a world so empty. It broke Corvo's still heart knowing that someone was cruel enough to do such a thing as force a child into being something they didn't want. The Outsider didn't seem bothered by it before, but Corvo learned to read him like a book and knew how uncomfortable the child’s own story made him.

Among the saddening things he learned, there were a few ups to studying the Outsider as well. He absolutely refused to let Corvo climb upon the back of a Leviathan. While Corvo thought it sounded fun, the Outsider would not condone that type of tomfoolery in his realm. Another bit of information Corvo learned was that while he was all knowing and fairly wise, the Outsider still tended to act as a child on a very rare occasion. 

It was little things that caused him to act as so. 

Sometimes he’d peacefully watch the whales go by while telling Corvo of each ones origins and how it came to be in the void. Other times he threw short tantrums over something not going right or someone misusing his gifts, but they only ever lasted a few seconds. Corvo compared this to a childish act purely because the boy grew to be as frustrated as a angry teen when something didn't go his way. It was almost amusing to watch. The act reminded him of Emily in a way and how she’d complain about not wanting to do any specific paperwork for the day and begged Corvo to let her practice sword fighting with him. Corvo always caved at her pleas. 

He missed Emily.

“I’d say shes doing quite well since the fall of Delilah.” The Outsider spoke, words soft as whispers as always. “She misses you too Corvo. She always will miss you.” 

Corvo didn't respond with anything more than a simple nod of his head.

“You aren’t quite like the other souls here in the Void. Others constantly wonder and ramble about old mistakes they may have made in their lives. You however, you seem to always somehow tell yourself to move on. You have an odd aura around you Corvo, like a calm amidst a raging storm, yet the feeling of loneliness still hangs above your head. I won't deny it, the calm is quite nice, but I worry you won't move on because something is holding you back.”

A pause.

“Void goers are normally only trapped here if they’ve done something unforgivable, but from what I’ve seen in your life, everything you did was always best for others and not yourself. You even spared the man who killed one you loved so dearly. So  _ why _ are you here?  _ Why _ is the Void holding you back?”

Corvo thought upon these questions. He wanted to say that not even he knew how to answer them, but his gut told him otherwise. He knew why he was here, and why he was stuck, but not how to put these answers into words without frustrating the great leviathan more. A sigh left his chest and he looked into the boy’s black eyes before simply stating;   
  
“You.”    
  
As expected, the Outsider scrunched his nose in further confusion. “You have no reason to stay here for my sake Corvo. You can simply move on without worrying about me. If you're implying that I'm forcibly keeping you here I can reassure you that that’s not my intention.”

“No. Not what I meant. I stay here because of you, because I choose to. Its instinct in a way. I may have done my job protecting one child and watching her grow up to be a fine Empress, but it seems the Void is in need of me to help another. One who has forgotten what it is to  _ be  _ a child.”

“I haven’t forgotten what it is to be a child. I have simply chosen not to act as one in the four thousand years of being here.”

“And thus you’ve forgotten.” Corvo nudged the black-eyed god, a hint of smugness held within his smile. “You were wrongfully forced here, and until you are done right and given a life to live that isn't one considered too much work for a child, I will stay here and keep you company. Maybe show you what it means to live.”

Corvo wasn’t sure how long he’d be able to keep this promise, some souls did fade faster than others, but he swore he’d hold on as long as he could until the Outsider was safe and as far out of the Void as he could be. 

It didn’t take long to happen. With Billie Lurk approaching fast and Daud at her side, Corvo was more than aware that the boy would be freed sooner than later. The only worry now was if these two former assassin would make the right choices rather than the wrong ones. As much as the royal protector wanted to interfere, he felt it best to watch as the Outsider explained to them that there was more than one choice to make in this situation. Death didn't have to be the answer and perhaps granting him his freedom would be the better choice. Daud was skeptical, as Corvo suspected, but Billie was easy to sway and word from a stubborn old man wasn’t going to stop her from doing what she thought was right.

Corvo greeted her in the Void when she came for the Outsider. Watched her struggle with her choices here. Eventually Billie took a seat next to the royal protector with a soft huff of frustration, dropping the blade and covering her face.

“I don’t know what to do here.” she whispers, “Don’t know what's right and what's wrong anymore. How did you do it? How did you ever manage to go about life for so long without harming a single person who did so much worse to you?”

Corvo simply shrugs,“I think about what better lives those people can live or maybe what worse outcome they have for them that isn't death. Death is quick and painless and feels right, but letting your enemies live could easily be worse for them. Sometimes you hope something good will come out of it for some of them and other times you wish for something bad. When I first came across Daud I had nothing but the intention to kill, however, Daud asked me for his life. He didn't beg, didn’t plead for it, just simply asked and expected for the worst. I let him go and for awhile hoped something bad would happen to him. It doesn't take long to realize some people  _ already  _ had it bad and to hope they can learn from it.” a pause and a soft laugh, he continues.

“I guess he got what was coming for him, forced to fight for who knows how long, but you pulled him out of it. Now I'm not saying Daud wanting to kill a god is a smart choice by any means, but it at least shows he has a bit of spirit left in him. That doesn't mean you're Daud.  _ You _ are Billie Lurk. Your choice here is yours alone and Daud doesn't have a say in the matter.”

Billie wiped her eyes and laughed. Typical for the royal protector to act as a father even after death. She couldn't deny that Emily was right about him always having the best advice though. “I need you to speak his name. Only those in the Void with his mark can read it. If you speak it, he’s freed.”

Corvo nods, stands up, and does as Billie asks. He doesn’t fade and instead watches as the Outsider gasps and falls and for the first time in his life, he genuinely looks human. Even younger than he did before. Corvo himself assumes its because the eyes which were previously so soulless are now full of life. It gives him a bit of hope and he wishes for the world to treat this child better than it had before. It's not going to be easy, but living half a life is far better than not living one at all.    
  
Billie takes the previous Outsider's hand and tells him they're going home.

She’ll have a lot of explaining to do when Daud sees them.

_ Corvo doesn't fade.  _   
  
It’s a refusal of sorts, or perhaps Corvo’s way of telling the Void itself that he won’t be seeing another child end up in such a situation as the previous Outsider did. The Void doesn’t complain, but accepts the offer he’s handing it. Corvo is stripped of his name by the Void itself, forgetting it over a matter of months as he wanders the vastness of the blue realm.    
  
He doesn’t forget those he cared for however and keeps watch of them for years as they live.    
  
After all, what kind of protector would the old soul be had he forgotten those he cared so deeply for all those years ago?

**Author's Note:**

> Me to a friend at like 5am one night: Everyone complains about Daud dying in Death of the Outsider but no one fixes this problem. I'll fix it. I'll fix it but make it worse. 
> 
> Me, seconds later: I'm making Corvo the Outsider now. 
> 
> The entire story line to this whole fic was way more thought out and put together in notes. It even had this whole thing about how Corvo was stuck in a kinda Delilah situation or something like that, but after trying to put it into words it never sounded right so I kinda just...simplified it...to whatever this is.......enjoy?


End file.
